Apple prepares iPad mini?

Apple’s iPad has gone through phases of rumors concerning a smaller form factor – which makes perfect sense actually, especially when you consider how Apple’s rivals, too, has looked into the realm of 7” tablets with decent levels of success. Perhaps Apple wants to take a slice of that potentially lucrative pie as well, no? Basically, there are whispers among Apple’s component suppliers in Asia who are said to be working on the mass production of a smaller display tablet from September this year onwards, which means a possible launch of such a device is happening very, very soon. The thing is, Apple’s pretty good at keeping secrets to date, so we do hope to hear something official from the fruity company soon.

Some say that the iPad mini (let us just call it that for reference’s sake) will have a display that is smaller than 8”, with some component suppliers who prefer to remain anonymous, did mention that Apple has requested for them to make the necessary arrangements for the smaller tablet’s mass production. What do you think – will existing iPad owners actually bother with a smaller screen iPad if it were to roll out?